Days: 13 days

Time: August

Per capita: 25000 yuan

With whom: husband and wife

Play: photography, humanities, hiking, semi free travel

The author went to these places

Russia

Lake Baikal

Pavlovsk

Published on 2015-08-26 15:40

Copyright notice: the copyright of the travel notes and all pictures belongs to the author (Chen Xiaoyang timeline, 419591110@qq.com ）All. Without my authorization, any individual or organization shall not copy or reprint the contents of this article, otherwise, they will reserve the right to investigate the legal responsibility. For commercial use, please contact the author for authorization.

preface

Before and after Kamchatka's trip, the most relevant question asked by relatives and friends around is, why do you want to travel to such a remote place? In addition to the natural choice of travel destination, the infatuation with wild nature, the choice of observable and travel also have the relationship of fate. Originally, the three words "Kamchatka" should have been known for a long time, but we really started to know Kamchatka from a book about Alaska. The book mentions a famous Japanese photographer named doff Hino. Later, he learned that he lived in Alaska all his life and focused on shooting brown bears. During a shooting trip to Kamchatka with the program team, he was killed in the mouth of the local brown bear, and Kamchatka officially came into sight. The attraction of Alaska's wilderness has never diminished, but for us living far away on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, Alaska is too far away. Kamchatka is located in the Far East of Russia, near the edge of Eurasia, across the sea from Alaska. Compared with Alaska, Kamchatka is wilder. There are countless glaciers, mountains and brown bears in Alaska. Kamchatka also has ice and snow, magnificent volcanoes and dense brown bears. Moreover, Kamchatka has only been reopened to foreign tourists since 2011. For foreign visitors, everything there is full of unknowns. Just a glance from lonely planet can touch people's hearts. I can't wait to start to find out. The most important thing is that although the journey to Kamchatka is also arduous and expensive, everything can be settled and our journey to Kamchatka begins.

Let's take a few pictures first.

Travel records

11 day itinerary content:

Yelizov (arrival) - rafting in the bystraya River Valley - Helicopter Tour in the valley of geyser - Mt. mutnovsky - Mt. Gorely - avacha Bay out to sea - Mt. avachinsky - yelizov (departure)

D1: arrive in Kamchatka

Kamchatka Peninsula is located in the Far East of Russia. The time zone is east 12. Starting from China, only Beijing is feasible. We first fly from Fuzhou to Beijing Capital Airport, then take Russian Airlines at 2 a.m. the next day, transfer via Khabarovsk, and then arrive at Petropavlovsk kamchatsky airport, the capital of Kamchatka.

As we were flying from East 8 to East 12, it was not long after we got on Russian Airlines, and the sky was getting brighter. This was my first time to watch the sunrise. For those people who had difficulty getting up, this kind of sunrise delivered to the window of the plane was really considerate!

After flying for 3 hours to Khabarovsk, it was already 7 a.m. and it was bright! He was sleepy because he didn't sleep all night. This is not our first visit to Russia. Before our trip to Kamchatka, we went to Lake Baikal. We already know about the local cultural environment and infrastructure environment in Russia. We also know that the airports there are many small and broken (similar to domestic long-distance stations), and they are not international at all. There are often no English signs in the airports. There is no problem in entry. There is no need to fill in the entry card by yourself. If the immigration officer fills in the card and hands it out, the immigrant just needs to sign his name. I don't know whether it's Russia's constant changes or different regions. In a word, this entry is very smooth. Go to the arrival hall, want to find out the transfer procedures as soon as possible, but also continue to fly to the final destination Kamchatka. The hall is very small, and the light is dim. When you see the display screen, there are Seoul and Phuket Island. How can they all fly to international destinations? It doesn't feel right. I saw an information counter in the hall, in which two male staff members were working hard, and it seemed that they had nothing to do with the inquiry service. I went to knock on the window and handed over my flight itinerary. I asked for help in English. When the other party saw it, he understood what I meant and wanted to answer it in English, but he didn't know how to express it, so I giggled. I expected that! As a result, another staff member in the office was asked to answer the question, and the other party spoke Chinese directly and asked me to go out of this building and take a plane to another terminal 200 meters away!

I was also drunk in such a transfer mode. We were suspicious. As soon as we got out of the door, a Russian woman asked us in English if we needed help. The result confirmed once again that we had to go to another building to take a Russian domestic flight. There are no transit signs along the road. For newcomers, if they are not very confident, they don't believe it is a transit, but they have already left the airport. After walking for about 5 minutes, I saw another bigger building, the Russian airport overhead. Every time I fly in Russia, I have to ask for help everywhere, this time even more. Entering the hall, I saw that the check-in counter didn't have our flight number, but the queue was long, so we also went in. After waiting for ten minutes, I asked the local people in the same team to pass my itinerary list. The other side said no. I guess it was just before the check-in time and then I returned. There is not even a bench here. Sitting on the ground, I feel sleepy. In about an hour, the flight number finally appears on the screen. I rush to check in and check in. After security check, I enter the waiting hall and let my wife sleep on the chair. I continue to hang on. I started to study the vending machine at the airport during the period of death support. Because there was no English word on it and I didn't know which one was the OK key, I really couldn't figure out how to choose the water I wanted to buy. I was worried that the money would be swallowed, so I had to find an old Russian woman nearby to help me with the operation and get new skills again and again!

Russia's aviation reputation is obvious to all, and its safety record is poor. To tell you the truth, Russia's aviation is also worried, and it should be OK to comfort its own state-owned aviation. In practice, as rumor has it, fighter pilots like to speed up in the air in a hurry. Even if they delay taking off, they arrive ahead of schedule in the end.

Landing at the airport in yelizov, the capital of Kamchatka, was more than 3 p.m. in the East 12. The funny thing about Kamchatka airport is that when you get off the plane, you don't need to pick up your luggage. You can walk through the runway and walk out of the iron fence door next to you, and you're out of the airport! The checked luggage is waiting in a dilapidated luggage room beside the open space.

Before I came to Kamchatka, I contacted the travel agency for arrangement. We settled in a hotel in the suburb and got to know the members of our team. Then we found that we were the only foreigners and the rest were local Russians. After dinner, we had a brief understanding of the basic situation and concerns of the itinerary with our guide. The next day, we planned to go to the bystraya river for three days and two nights for rafting and camping.

D2: bystraya river rafting

The six wheel drive truck is the most distinctive means of transportation here. It has six wheel drive wheels and a large carriage carrying nearly 20 people. It seems that it doesn't take any effort to drive on the rugged wilderness road of Kamchatka Peninsula. What an amazing masterpiece!

At the starting point of rafting, two Russian fishermen knew that we were from China and were very enthusiastic. They would treat us to vodka, beer, barbecue and fresh fish roe. I'm really too strong to drink. I'll have to drift later. I don't want to be drunk in the kayak.

Pack up, move on the rubber boat and start the 3-day and 2-night journey.

After a simple refreshment by the river, the kayak set off at noon. In the afternoon, it became overcast. Soon it began to drizzle, the cold wind rustled, and there was no one around.

There are four boats in our team. One of the guides is on our boat, probably to take care of us. We are Chinese. We also have two team chefs on board. Below is a Russian on another ship, with another local guide at the back right.

In this way, it drifts further and further along the winding river course of bystraya, and the overlapping green hills in the distance are shrouded in clouds.

Night is coming. We stop at a riverbank in the rain. This is our camping spot tonight. The equipment was brought ashore in the rain, and tents were set up. In the public tents set up on the other side, cooks began to cook, and some people began to fish.

This is Victor, one of our guides, killing salmon on the shoal for dinner tonight.

During dinner, a gruesome thing happened. A wild brown bear suddenly appeared on the river about 20 meters away from our camping site. All the people screamed, threw stones and knocked pots and pans. The guide took out the electric saw and made a loud noise to scare away the brown bear, so as to prevent it from invading our camp again tonight (actually our territory).

Just scared away the brown bear on the river bank, the brown bear appeared again on the back of the camp. This time, the brown bear was still scared away with the signal bomb. Within half an hour, brown bears reappeared in the other direction.

In the middle of the picture, there is a brown bear.

The bystraya Valley in the shadow of night.

Because the Russian people's safety threshold is really too low, and there are no effective preventive measures against brown bears. The only advice given to us is to stay in the tent when we encounter brown bears. As night fell, I baked a fire by the campfire, warmed my body, searched for a corner in the darkness, and finally returned to the tent. However, we all spent that night in surprise. There was a little wind and grass outside the tent, and we were worried that it was the sound of brown bears entering the camp. So the first night camping in the tent was a sleepless night.

D3: bystraya river rafting

it's dawn! Pull out camp quickly, have a meal, get on the rubber boat and continue to move downstream. Today, the sky is clear, and my mood is also relaxed. I lie on the boat and stare at the sky. There is no disturbance of modern communication tools or work. I don't have to think about anything and do nothing. I just let the rubber boat drift slowly downstream driven by the river.

In the drifting, brown bears were found foraging on the river bank.

At noon, they make lunch on the Bank of the river, while others fish and explore.

Team cook.

The cook is a good cook. The lunch is delicious, with refreshments. After eating, I lay on the ground to blow and bask in the sun.

In the afternoon, I met brown bear again on the way of drifting. One of them was too close to our boat in the water. It was very dangerous.

I saw the bears.

In the evening, find a suitable camp. This is it!

Everyone busily began to make a bonfire.

Quickly set up the tent. The campsite last night was too wet, and there was steam in the camera this morning. It seems that the campsite tonight will be more comfortable.

In the wild of Kamchatka, there are the most dense and the largest wild mosquitoes we have ever seen in our life, and the mosquitoes here, including flies, have no stress response to people's waving and slapping. In other words, if a mosquito falls on the face and we hold it down with our hands, the mosquito will not fly away in the process, It's totally different from the mosquitoes we see in the city. As a result, every night in the wild, I was attacked by a group of fierce mosquitoes, so I had no choice but to ask the guide for help and spray their local mosquito spray all over my body. Local people also have a kind of anti mosquito hood, which can protect the whole head on the head. It's an anti mosquito artifact!

In the evening, there were some small episodes. It was already dark. A group of Russians were holding a "seminar" around a generator with their headlights on. When they asked, they knew that the generator was broken and could not be repaired. As a result, everyone ate in the dark in the public tent that night. Fortunately, gas was used for cooking, but the dinner was saved.

Tonight's dinner was Salmon Soup with potatoes. I didn't have enough. I took some biscuits and tea to eat. On the other hand, I had to resist the attack of fierce mosquitoes. After dinner, go to the river to get water, brush teeth and wash face, and then go to the campfire to keep warm. At the same time, smoke can smoke away mosquitoes. Late at night, the cold wind on the Bank of the river was piercing. The colder I was, the colder I went back to my tent to sleep. In the cold wind, the tent whizzed and trembled at night. I curled up in my sleeping bag and couldn't resist sleep until dawn!

D4: bystraya rafting

Today is the last day of rafting in bystraya. I got up for dinner in the morning, strolled leisurely on the beach, carefully observed the stones on the river bank, picked up some pebbles with unique patterns, picked up some satisfied ones and put them into my backpack. I plan to take them back to China as a souvenir (though I don't know if they are legal or not).

Pack up and start again. In the morning, it's the last and most intense rapids. As soon as they got on the boat, their buttocks were wet by the spray. Today's weather is very cold, pants have been completely soaked in cold water, I hope to hurry to the destination ashore!

It is said that this bridge has its origin, and it is also the end of our drifting in three days and two nights!

In the group photo of the drifting team, the first and fourth on the left are cooks, and the first, second, third and seventh on the left are guides and staff. We are the only Chinese / foreigners (in the middle).

D5: Valley of geyser by helicopter

A helicopter tour of geyser Valley is a long-awaited journey. During this period, tourists take the MI 8 transport helicopter to visit the landmark scenic spots of Kamchatka, overlooking the volcanic lake and other active volcanoes from high altitude, which is the top experience listed in LP. The cost of this trip is not low. This year's price is 37000 rubles. If we use the ruble exchange rate of last year, I'm afraid one person will have to pay at least 5000 yuan. However, thanks to the sharp drop in the ruble exchange rate, we actually spent only 3700 yuan per person. Because it was much lower than our psychological price, we felt that we had taken advantage of it for a while.

The heliport terminal. This trip is carried out by a local helicopter transportation company. No matter which travel agency you sign up for, you will be sent here at last. For us and the vast majority of passengers, taking a helicopter is a rare experience, not to mention the huge Mi 8 heavy helicopter. It's exciting to think of it.

There are more than ten M 8 helicopters on the apron. We knew that this trip depended on good weather conditions before our visit, and it was very possible to cancel or reschedule it. However, our visit to Kamchatka was very smooth. Although there was a lot of fog on that day, we set out as scheduled.

Every time a helicopter takes off, people gather around the apron to photograph the take-off process. This is not only my first helicopter ride, but also my first helicopter take-off. During the take-off process of M 8 heavy-duty helicopter, there was a huge roar and strong air waves. Some people could not stand steadily. The scene was really spectacular! If the video is uploaded, I will add a link in the follow-up, please pay attention.

After several hours of waiting, we finally set foot on the M 8 engine room. There are about 20 passengers in the cabin with one guide.

Everyone put on the sound proof earmuffs.

Take a group photo before taking off.

The whole flight was recorded. Here are some aerial photos of the helicopter.

The black and white dots in the picture are actually sheep.

Everyone thought that we were looking at the beautiful scenery through the porthole of the plane. In fact, as soon as we got on the plane, the guide opened the window. In fact, we were at an altitude of about 1000 meters, and our heads and hands could directly extend out of the porthole. And outside there is a very strong air blowing into the cabin, the hands of the camera and mobile phone must be very careful not to be blown away! So "close" close to the sky, it's a different experience!

The exciting moment is coming.

The helicopter is spinning sideways around the crater. Although the tour guide can't speak English clearly and can't hear others on the plane at all, I'm still excited to see this smoking volcano, which I don't know its name, but I know it's a landmark landscape.

Every time you search online for images of the Kamchatka geyser Valley, you can see this iconic volcanic lake.

The helicopter is about to land in the valley.

Get off the plane speed capture a cockpit map, go back to find out!

Our M-8 helicopter.

Several wooden plank roads and public toilets (simple wooden houses) were built in the valley for tourists to use.

The sky began to clear up. I didn't expect such lush vegetation in the geyser valley. What's more, I thought there were a large number of brown bears here. Therefore, a guard with a gun was deployed in the team to explain to the guide that this was to prevent tourists and brown bears from meeting accidentally.

From time to time, several air holes on the ground along the way emit steam with toxic gas, and a unique smell of rotten eggs of hydrogen sulfide can be smelled all around.

From time to time a few bubbles bubbled out of the thick mud.

Too close to harmful gases, trees wither.

Armed.

After a tour, take a helicopter and fly to the next scenic spot.

Thick fog shrouded the valley, adding a bit of the atmosphere of paradise.

A huge intermittent spring erupts violently every 10-15 minutes, and the gushing hot spring water is as high as 10 meters, which is very spectacular.

When taking the helicopter to the third station, there was a sudden change of wind and rain, thunder and lightning, fog outside the cabin, and the visibility was almost zero. The helicopter pilot took off again after landing in the valley midway, and later learned that the third station was cancelled and flew directly back to the airport. The helicopter we took was moving up and down in the severe convective weather, as if it was going to crash in the next second. We were sitting in the cabin with our heart beating to our throat. We didn't want to take photos at all. The tour guide started to deliver the plane cabin. At that time, while eating the plane meal, he thought that it might be the last meal, and he was about to catch up with me. Fortunately, after a period of time, we rushed out of the clouds, stopped the rain, and returned to the blue sky.

The so-called "last lunch".

It was already 6 p.m. when we returned to the airport. When we got off the plane, we gave thanks to our female tour guide. Although we were the only two foreigners on the trip, she made great efforts to explain the scenic spots to us again in her unfamiliar English after introducing them in Russian. We were very grateful.

Starting from the airport, we took advantage of the dark to rush to the camp of Mt. mutnovsky, our next travel destination. There were all kinds of bumps along the way. The speed of the truck could only reach about 15 km / h at most. We went from waking to sleeping, from sleeping to waking. Due to the language barrier between us and the guide, we suspected that the driver had lost his way. It took about six hours to reach the pitch black camp at 12 a.m. Although exhausted to the extreme, still want to turn on the headlight to feel dark to set up camp!

D6: Mt. mutnovsky hiking

It doesn't take long to get to the foot of mutnaya volcano by six wheel drive truck from the camp. For those who love nature and like to explore, hiking on volcanoes is definitely full of challenges. It's very exciting to think about conquering this famous volcano in the near future.

Put on the climbing stick, put on sunscreen, put on sunglasses, and set off. The team walked on the snow and dirt road, and the landscape was once magnificent.

On the way, I cross cut from a snow slope, and the right side is the "ten thousand Zhang abyss". The passing hikers stepped on a narrow snow road.

The admirable mother nature has created a unique landscape here, which seems to be outside the world.

The 2-meter-wide volcanic cave is full of boiling sound, dense fog and pungent sulfur smell. If you fall, you are doomed.

A spectacular waterfall, at the risk of taking a picture at the edge of the cliff.

Back to camp. I have plenty of time today. I can deal with some personal affairs and relax. The scenery around the camp is also quite good.

D7: climbing Volvo Gorely

Today, the weather condition is very bad. During the whole climbing process, there is a gale of force 20, which makes people unable to breathe. It's like facing the air-conditioning outlet, but the temperature is 10 degrees lower and the wind speed is 10 times higher. Due to unexpected weather conditions, our personal protective equipment is not well prepared and our comfort is very poor. We are following the team's progress in the whole climbing process. It's very hard, but we don't want to give up. We are constantly challenging our personal limit.

During the whole process, I watched the road under my feet and tried my best to climb up. There were several dangerous crossings. When I cut across the ridge, there was a strong wind, people could not stand steadily, and there were steep slopes on both sides, which was very dangerous. The visibility on the mountain is very poor. The picture below shows Zhongting having lunch and preparing to rush to the top at one go.

Visibility in dense fog is not more than 10m.

Exhausted, only to know that has reached the top of Gorely volcano 1850 meters high, super excited! Below is a volcanic lake at the top of the mountain. In the strong wind, clouds sometimes cover the crater, sometimes dissipate, so we can only seize the opportunity to photograph the looming volcanic lake.

After going down the mountain, they all said that the next mountain was not ready to go any more. They didn't know another challenge was coming, and they couldn't miss it.

Return to the camp, have a short rest and leave! After another six hours, he returned to the capital of Kamchatka.

It's 12 o'clock in the evening. Check in the geyser Hotel, take a bath, change clothes, and get ready to go out for Birdwatching the next day.

D8: one day tour to avacha Bay

After only five hours' rest, I woke up at six o'clock in the morning and went to the dock for sightseeing.

A group of birds flew over the sea from time to time, and the calls of seabirds were everywhere. Capturing seabirds became one of the day's interests.

Through here, the ship is about to leave the Gulf of awacha.

This is an island called what island. I don't care about its name. Enjoy it. There are countless seabirds perched on the reefs exposed to the sea and on the small islands.

The ship anchored here for fishing.

For a 400 yuan one-day tour, I didn't expect to provide lunch. It turned out that each person had a Kamchatka crab as big as his face! It's the conscience of the industry!

It's just noon when I came back from the sea. I drove to the camp of Mt. avachinsky, the last volcano in Kamchatka. Thankfully, there is no need to live in tents any more. Avachinsky camp has mature facilities, wooden houses and public restaurants. The whole camp is operated by the travel company of kamchatin tour.

On the east side of the camp is tomorrow's target - awacha volcano 2750 meters high, and on the west side is a higher sister volcano - K volcano 3400 meters high. There is no English word in the mountain climbing map, sighing.

At the end of the curtain, several beautiful pictures of the camp are presented.

The clouds cleared away to reveal their true appearance.

D9: climbing Mt. avachinsky

After more than a week's journey, my whole body was seriously strained, and all kinds of plasters were almost used up. But at the critical moment, I decided to challenge the volcano again with the attitude of how high I can climb. Mobile phone, without SLR.

The sun rises, and the volcano awacha is shown here. It seems so far away from the camp, the target seems out of reach.

On the way, I met a group of climbing teams from Japan. I admire the Japanese mountaineering spirit!

After a long trek, it reached an altitude of 2000 meters. The whole team is here for lunch, trimming, and preparing for further ascent. The top of the mountain looks closer and closer, and confidence is beginning to recover.

From the hillside of awacha, you can see the opposite volcano.

In the morning, I was still in a bad state. After a few hours of climbing on foot, I was getting better and better. Instead of falling, my physical strength increased. After finishing the rest at the height of 2000 meters, about half of the team chose to go down the mountain instead of continuing to attack the top, while another group of people who still have physical strength, including me, continued to climb up. From the above, the peak of awaqia fire has emerged from the clouds. I thought that the weather above would not be as bad as before when I climbed Gorely. As a result, I just walked two steps up from 2000 meters. I don't know why the wind and cloud suddenly changed, and a cold strong wind of more than ten levels was blowing again. It seems that I stepped into another world from any gate of Doraemon. At that time, I was cutting across the snow slope. I felt that the danger had risen beyond control. My reason told me to look back, but after a few steps, the situation improved. In that harsh environment, I have been quietly encouraging myself in my heart. I know that I have exceeded my original limit when I can walk above 2000 meters today. Every step of the next ascent is constantly breaking through my limit, so I suddenly feel motivated.

Because the guide took the wrong route (none of the other teams took that route that day), we went up a steep boulder and it took us half an hour to climb down.

Every next step is a struggle. We climb along the zigzag path, with steeper and steeper slopes on one side, and very loose sand and stones piled up under our feet, unable to bear the weight. We should be careful to slip or even fall at all times. On the other side is the cold gale. As long as I stop to have a rest, I will feel cold, and the sand and stones are in disorder. I am wearing a mask, and a lot of sand and stones are blown into my mouth. When I bite my teeth, my mouth creaks.

It took about 2 hours to go up from 2000 meters. The last section of the slope was very steep. Everyone climbed along the rope. I fought bravely and rushed to the top of the mountain. I arrived at the top of awacha at 2750. Everyone was very excited and congratulated each other! The strong Russian fellow congratulated me. I didn't expect that my thin body could finally reach the peak with them, because my performance was really poor yesterday. Today, in the process of attacking the top, a strong Russian man gave up and withdrew near the end.

There is no beautiful scenery at the top of the mountain, but the whole climbing process is of great significance to feel a kind of training and breakthrough.

Group photo of climbing members. The last three on the right are the only guides, victor.

Looking back at the newly ascended peak of awacha in the downhill picture, it's incredible!

The road to get off is full of loose volcanic rocks and snow. As a person growing up in the warm and humid South, he is not used to taking the snow road. On the way down, I slipped on all kinds of slopes and ice and snow for countless times. One time, I stepped on the snow slope and nearly slipped down the slope. Fortunately, my right hand stick inserted deep into the snow, pulled it and sat on the ground (after returning to the camp, I found that the stick was bent), which was the most thrilling trip in this expedition.

On the way back, I passed through mountain camel, which is more than 1200 meters away. I heard that there are many marmots on the top of the mountain.

D10: awacha camp

Today, another group of people went to Camel Mountain on foot. However, based on the fact that we had challenged awacha more than 2000 meters yesterday, we are not interested in that hill bag today. After breakfast, we choose to spend a leisurely day in the camp at the foot of the mountain.

The Japanese grandparents who live in the camp with us do gymnastics every morning and evening. Out of respect, I didn't shoot. Maybe the reason why Japanese people live so long is that they often climb mountains?

About 1000 meters above, no animals and plants can be seen on the awacha volcano, but the foot of the mountain is full of life. The marmots in the camp live in twos and threes under our wooden house, and they are not unfamiliar with people. They come forward when they have food, which brings us full fun in the morning leisure!

D11: return trip

Today is return day. According to the plan, we go to the supermarket to spend the remaining rubles in cash, and then go to the airport. I eat the most salmon in Kamchatka. I feel that all the salmon in my life have been eaten here. Below is the most respectable place to stay, geyser hotel.

Waiting hall of Petropavlovsk airport in Kamchatka.

Take off from Kamchatka.

The coastline of the peninsula is faintly visible. When will you come back?

Travel information

1.Visa: you can apply for it online. The fee is 500-600 yuan. You only need passport and photo.

2.Flight: take Aeroflot, from Beijing to the capital of Kamchatka, via Khabarovsk or vladivosk, with similar prices. We buy tickets from the official website, which is a little cheaper than qunar. Please refer to the subsequent updates of this article for the ride experience of Russian Airlines.

3.Currency: the current ruble exchange rate is 1:10, so it's cheaper to go to Russia than in previous years. It is the most convenient and affordable way to use UnionPay debit card to withdraw rouble cash directly from local ATM supporting UnionPay. ATM machines, outlets or banks supporting UnionPay can be found on UnionPay website. After practice, the domestic Hall of Khabarovsk airport supports UnionPay ATM, but the international hall does not. When Kamchatka airport arrived, it came out directly. If you need to withdraw money, you can find a bank supporting UnionPay in yelizov or Petropavlovsk. Although some ATMs do not have UnionPay logo, they may support UnionPay, which is worth a try. In addition, it is worth noting that some local banks set a ceiling on the amount of a single withdrawal. We have encountered a ceiling of 6000 rubles, while we have to withdraw 74000 rubles. We have to withdraw 13 withdrawals, almost without breaking our hand.

4.Local travel: a famous local saying is that Kamchatka has no road, only direction. In fact, walking out of the city is a wilderness. You must have a local driver or guide to get to your destination.

5.Insurance information

Overseas travel, it is best to buy a short-term overseas travel accident insurance. My trip is really full of adventure and excitement. I've always been very cautious about safety issues. Buying an insurance can also protect myself and my family. It's better to buy the kind of insurance with higher medical compensation and emergency medical rescue. In recent years, I have chosen to travel all over America and Asia, http://t.cn/RcrsgMx  Medical insurance is 400000 yuan, property loss is 10000 yuan, bank card theft is 15000 yuan, including our common problems such as plane delay, luggage loss, travel change, etc. the insured amount is very high! Compared with other kinds of insurance, this insurance is absolutely comprehensive and cost-effective. You can get coupons ranging from 5 to 50 yuan on the subscription number of "Daren Weimeng", which is very cost-effective!

Climate and equipment information

We want to share the equipment information with the local climate conditions, because it is difficult to find the information in books or on the Internet, and we think it is very important, and the experience can be used for reference.

Climate: Kamchatka Peninsula is in a high latitude, with the lowest temperature of - 20 ℃ in winter and the highest temperature of about 20 ℃ in summer. The climate data of Kamchatka capital can be retrieved on the Internet. And even in the same season, the temperature is different in different areas of the island, and the weather at different times and heights is also changeable. Although I learned a lot before I set out, I didn't expect that there would be snow all year round in the Kamchatka Peninsula. Even in the warmest August, there would be no melting snow and ice sheet on the volcano.

The following is the equipment information of the two of us.

1.Clothing: a set of reliable waterproof and windproof assault suit and warm fleece jacket are absolutely necessary for any outdoor activities in Kamchatka Peninsula. It's rainy and windy in the local area, and the climate for climbing volcano is even worse, with strong wind blowing on the mountain and sand flying everywhere. In different places, the temperature changes rapidly, and it may be very cold at night (such as valley or plateau camp). My wife and I were wearing decathlon and Pathfinder jackets, and Columbia Fleece. These two sets of clothes accompany us all the way through the cold, strong wind, gravel, rain and so on. In terms of pants, we are wearing quick drying pants. If we have waterproof pants, we can also consider them.

2.Shoes: it is recommended to wear a pair of shoes with a pair. If the shoes you take are not suitable, or if they are worn out or there is no spare shoes in the water, you will die miserably. Our shoes are high top hiking shoes for hikers and low top hiking shoes for TNF in the north. If you are going to climb a volcano, you should buy as high as the gaobang has. Most of the mountains are covered with fine sand and stones, sometimes falling into the water. In addition, there is continuous coverage (we went to a depth of 20cm + in summer). If we go climbing in winter, it is recommended to equip more professional climbing boots and snow covers. If you are drifting, you need more special high top rubber shoes to be able to go fishing (the waves are also very high when drifting).

3.Tents and sleeping bags: there are many choices in tents, and sleeping bags (as well as damp proof mats) can be provided locally, so it is not recommended here. In terms of sleeping bags, we choose down sleeping bags, which are light enough and easy to compress. Because cotton sleeping bags are too heavy and unable to compress, they are not considered in our outdoor travel. Domestic brand we choose is black ice B400 sleeping bag, temperature 2-7-13 degrees, weight 700g, price 450 yuan. There is no reliable product to choose from below this price. Because we plan to camp out for more than 4 days during our trip, and the weather outside is unpredictable, we think we should spend more money on reliable products on sleeping bags. In addition, the question of temperature scale depends on the season and personal cold tolerance. When we camp at night, the lowest outdoor temperature is slightly lower than 10 degrees, and the cold resistance is medium or low. Sleeping bags of this level are OK. In addition, we have a decathlon portable fleece blanket for emergency.

4.Backpack: there are more brands in this area, no special recommendation. However, we think that a big bag and a small bag are suitable for climbing.

5.Other mountaineering equipment: the climbing stick is a necessary equipment for climbing volcanoes. There are many domestic brands to choose from, such as Pathfinder, North Mountain Wolf, male wolf and so on. The weight of the climbing stick is not big. Carbon is not necessary. Aluminum alloy is enough. Anti ultraviolet sunglasses are very important to prevent the eyes from being burned by the ultraviolet reflection in the snow. Windshields and masks are no exaggeration. The mountain wind is definitely not too strong. This time, we didn't carry any ice claws because we didn't know there was a lot of snow in August. I think it's very necessary to use them as climbing equipment. During the climbing of the awaqia volcano, it almost fell on a snowy slope. In addition, the slope of the mountain is steep and the sand is soft, so it is very easy to slip. Other equipment includes climbing gloves, hats and so on.

6.Other conventional equipment:

a. Anti mosquito spray: the domestic toilet water is useless to the local wild mosquitoes in Kamchatka (there are many and large mosquitoes). You can buy anti mosquito spray locally, which is effective to mosquitoes and insects.

b. Walkie talkie: there is no communication signal in many outdoor places, and Russian guides never seem to use walkie talkie (sometimes they use satellite phones), but we think walkie talkie is very good for internal communication as their own people.

c. Camera: the above photos were taken with mobile phone and Nikon d7000 + 18-108mm / 10-20mm lens.

d. Others include: multiple bank cards and V / M international credit cards, mobile GPS, mobile power supply, headlamp, flashlight, tent lamp, enough disposable underwear and socks, personal toiletries, plastic bags (store personal food, pay attention to prevent brown bear), garbage bags (do not litter in the field), PP sports water bottles, plastic bags, etc Stainless steel vacuum kettle (if you mind drinking cold water all the time)

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